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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Can one be Catholic or Jewish or whatever and still believe in no afterlife?[/quote]

I'm not Jewish but I've been to a number of Jewish funerals and noticed that there was no discussion of an afterlife.[/quote]

That's right. Christians keep harping about an afterlife. We Jews don't talk about it. Maybe there is one, maybe not. Christians are always saying that we must act morally because that's how to get to Heaven. If you act immorally, you go to Hell. To a Jew, that makes no sense. Jews believe that one must act morally because it's the right thing to do. If you're acting morally simply because you're afraid that if you don't, you will burn in Hell for eternity, that doesn't make you a moral person. It makes you a person acting out of self interest. [/quote]

What does it mean for something to be the "right" thing to do?  How is this derived and by what method do we resolve disputes amongst different people about what is in fact right?[/quote]

be kind, do no harm, do unto others....  Simple stuff[/quote]

Is abortion harm?  Does being kid require paying high marginal tax rates, a d if do, how high?  When does doing unto others require personal sacrifice and when is it sufficient to be a bystander and live your own life?  What about euthanasia?  Is there a such thing as a just war?  Is a non-democratic system inherently immoral and, if so, are you required to oppose it publicly at personal risk?  Is leaving an enormous national debt immoral?  Is driving to work rather than taking the bus?  Drinking at a bar rather than visiting the local old folks home?

I could go on and on.  If it's so simple, why are there such widely divergent views on these issues?[/quote]
I like this story: "Rabbi Hillel the Elder (c.60 BCE-c.10CE) was once asked by a man, 'Teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot.' Rabbi Hillel responded: 'What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.  This is the entire Torah and the rest is commentary. Now go learn.'"

Judaism is concerned with the here-and-now. Most Jewish leaders and discussions are agnostic on the idea of an afterlife because what we do with our time on earth is most important; we don't need the lure of an afterlife to tell us what's right and wrong. (Though some talk about something after life, it's one state of being for everyone, not divided into heaven/purgatory/hell.)

Once you think about not doing to someone else what is hateful to you, things sort of fall into place. [/quote]

If something that would be hateful to others helps propagate my genes, wouldn't it be irrational to refrain from doing it?[/quote]

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